Looking back at Canada’s last Olympic opening ceremony

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The opening ceremony likely will have a different feel to it since it’ll be the first to be held indoors. A crowd of 60,000 is expected to attend Friday’s ceremony at BC Place, allowing fans to stay warm and dry (rain is in the forecast for Vancouver).

Still, will this opening ceremony capture the essence of community, art and sport that has been employed so successfully in years past? Torino’s use of pyrotechnics was truly spectacular, and who could ever forget the dramatic lighting of the Olympic cauldron at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer?

One thing is certain -- it’ll surpass Canada’s last opening ceremony. The 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary were part of a different era when opening ceremonies weren’t as lavish as they are now.

For the time, this was probably a stellar effort. Unfortunately, thanks to that archer in Barcelona and China’s deep pockets (and fake singing) the bar has been raised. Check out the video:

-- Austin Knoblauch